Highest unclimbed mountain

In some cases, even modern ascents by larger parties have been poorly documented and, with no universally recognized listing, the best that can be achieved in determining the world's highest unclimbed peaks is somewhat speculative.

Most sources indicate that Gangkhar Puensum (7,570 metres, 24,840 ft) on the Bhutan–China border is the tallest mountain in the world that has not been fully summited.

Many virgin peaks exist because no one has had access to that mountain due to its geographic isolation or political instability.

Some are off limits due to religious beliefs in that country or region which hold that a certain mountain is sacred and should remain inviolate.

Of those, Mount Kailash, a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China, with an altitude of 6,638 m (21,778 ft), is one of the most prominent.

It lies in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) of the Transhimalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau.

[5] With humans living at high elevations for many millennia, nearby peaks to such settlements may or may not have been summited at some point in the past.

[11][12]Unclimbed candidates with high topographic prominence are by definition independent mountains, but some have relatively modest elevations.

The unclimbed status of each of these peaks is difficult to confirm, although Mount Siple in particular is remote, uninhabited (and without any nearby habitation), and seldom visited.